Let's go to the courthouse.
CNN's senior crime
and justice correspondent
Shimon Prokupecz
and senior
legal affairs
correspondent Paula Reid are both there.
Paula, I want to start with you
because several media outlets,
including CNN, petitioned
the judge
to unseal the document early
and also allow cameras in the courtroom
What can you tell us
about the status of that supporters,
Congressman?
That's right, Dan.
There has been this push
for more transparency
from media organizations
We wanted the indictment
to be unsealed
ahead of tomorrow's arraignment
when it is historically
usually revealed for the force
first time.
And also,
there's been a push for cameras
in the courtroom
arguing that, yes,
while there are not usually cameras
in Manhattan courtrooms,
that there is no greater public interest
than when you are talking
about the arraignment
of a former president
of the United States.
Now, the judge gave both the prosecutors
and the defense at 1 p.m.
today to weigh in.
And the prosecutors
took no stance on this.
But surprisingly,
the former
president's
legal team is opposing cameras
in the courtroom.
Now, they are really leaning
into the idea
that this is a security risk.
They're saying
that this could potentially contribute
to a court
circus like atmosphere in the courtroom.
And they're also saying
that having cameras in the courtroom
would go against the former president's
right to a presumption of innocence.
But, Dana,
this is somewhat
surprising for someone
who is, of course,
a very successful reality star.
But look, this judge
historically has not been in favor
of having cameras
even in high profile cases.
So now that the defense has come out
against that,
it's looking less likely
that we will get this this access.
Yeah.
I mean, in some ways it's
surprising in other ways,
since he is a candidate
to be president again, not as surprising.
The images of the motorcade going to to
to his plane and his plane taking off.
Those are the images I believe
we're going to see in a Trump
ad if there's going to be one.
He doesn't necessarily
want one in the courtroom.
Speaking of the courtroom,
what can you tell us about the changes
to Trump's legal team?
Well, now that indictment has been filed,
even though it's under seal,
the former president has added
an attorney to his legal team.
This is not unusual
particularly in these
ongoing investigations.
We see people coming
and going from the team.
In this case, his attorney, Todd Blanch,
he has been added to the defense team,
but a lot of people
speculating about what that means
for Joe
Tacopina, who has really been
the most forward facing
member of the defense team.
I spoke to Joe a short time ago, though.
He said he's still on the team
and he says he will be the lead counsel
during the hearing tomorrow.
And someone I want to turn to you.
There's been a lot of concern,
a lot of speculation,
a lot of trepidation
related to
what could be coming
from a security perspective.
What's your sense of things right now
in terms
from what the NYPD is prepared to do,
both today, tomorrow,
kind of the whole assessment
of things going forward
Well, certainly securing the
former president,
making sure he gets inside
the building here
behind us,
that's going to be the number one
priority getting him in there,
making sure
no one tries
to interrupt the proceedings.
But the issue now is
if they're not going to have Phil cameras
in the courtroom,
every image
that we could possibly get of the former
president is going to be important.
And one of those images
could come here on Hogan Place.
This is where
the district attorney's office is
This is where we expect the motorcade
with the former president to drive down.
We expect that he's going to
come out of the car
and then walk through the doors
of one polling place, which is here
to my right, and walk in and surrender
to the district attorney's office
and then essentially
he will be under arrest.
And at that point is
when the arrest, processing,
the fingerprinting
or the paperwork that comes along with
that will take place
but he will walk into these doors.
He will be met there
by district attorney staff,
the investigators on the case.
Those are the people that will be making
the arrest.
And then they will take him upstairs
where they will do the processing.
But right now,
as they prepare for tomorrow,
we're seeing a lot of barricades
here today.
Certainly we're seeing
several more
officers, court officers, NYPD personnel.
And tomorrow,
what we expect is that this entire street
is going to be closed off
as they bring the motorcade through here.
But then also the streets
surrounding the courthouse
because there is
some concern for protesters
and there's a lot of choreography going here,
going on right now.
Certainly a lot to watch
tomorrow as well.
And Shimon
is going to be there
for all of it from Professor Paul Read.
Thanks so much.
I want to get back out to Katelyn
outside Trump Tower,
and I'd like her opinion
on whether it's a regular thing
for the president
to be against
creating a circus like atmosphere
from a media perspective.
Kevin, you have any thoughts on that?
Yeah,
there'll be some questions about that.
Of course, that is coming from the Trump
legal team.
We should know
we are here outside of Trump Tower,
just blocks away from where Shimon is.
We have seen
its chief national affairs
correspondent Jeff Zeleny, and CNN
senior legal analyst, silicone
and both with us.
Eliot,
the idea that they don't want cameras
to be in the courtroom,
you know this off in this courthouse
very well.
Are you surprised by that?
No, not I think that's what I expected.
So ordinarily in New York state courts
and that's what we are
we're not in federal court.
We're in state court.
The rule is no cameras in the courtroom.
However, the judge does have discretion.
The judge can say, I'm
going to allow them.
And what the judge has to
balance is on the one hand,
the need for transparency
in the public interest,
which is not just high here,
but I would say unprecedented in terms
of how high it is.
On the other hand,
the need to protect the presumption
of innocence of the defendant
and the thinking there as well.
The image of somebody
standing at a defendant's table,
even if not in handcuffs,
even if not in prison garb,
still could be influential on our jury.
And let's remember,
our whole jury pool is watching.
So I think it's not at all surprising
that the defense does not want cameras
in there.
I mean, an image of a person
standing at a defense table
could be even more prejudicial
than a mug shot, if you think about it.
So we will see.
What the judge decides on
this is important to keep in mind.
Tomorrow's arraignment is going to last
no more than 10 minutes.
Maybe as short as 5 minutes.
So the judge will make
his decision on tomorrow.
Ultimately, it's
going to be a much bigger question about
does the judge allow cameras in
for the trial if there is a trial. Right.
And what does this judge
have a history of doing
when it comes to camera?
Yes. So this judge historically
has not been open to the idea of cameras.
He denied a request
to have cameras in the Trump
Organization trial,
which happened last year.
He did allow
still photography in the room
when Allen Weisselberg was sentenced.
But that's just a still photo.
That's not a live feed.
Trump's chief financial officer
who is serving the final days
of his prison term.
Jeff, we just heard from Jason Miller,
who is a campaign adviser to Trump.
He is on the plane with him right now
on the way here to New York.
He is now saying and of course, we
you know, this is what he is saying.
It's not from an FCC filing
that they've raised $7 million
since the word of the indictment
came down on Thursday.
Initially,
we were told $4 million
in about 24 hours.
And so
we do know that right now
they're saying Trump's not going to speak
while he's here in New York.
We don't actually know
if that's what's going to happen.
What we do know,
he is planning to speak tomorrow
night back in Mar a Lago.
He is he's going to be delivering
an address in primetime
from Mar
a Lago once he returns there
and really to do it on his own terms.
So it's seen in a way as doing,
you know, his rebuttal of this.
And his speech will surely go longer
than the 10 minutes
that he's going to be arraigned tomorrow.
So this is a
he wants something more dignified,
we're told,
something that's not standing outside
of the courthouse.
So, yes, he wants to gain
politically from this in the short term,
raising money,
getting his rivals
to put a circle behind him.
But he also wants to sort of frame
this in a way that,
you know, that he can do it
as a former president.
And he's inviting friends and allies
tomorrow, Lago.
He wants to be surrounded by them.
So that is how he hopes to put a
an exclamation point on this
first court appearance, I guess.
So, again, a short term
political benefit,
the $7 million we should point out,
if that's true,
that's from small dollar donations
like selling
all kinds of a variety of things like
indictment, merchandise
and just people sending support
because they think he's wrong.
But again,
the long term benefit of this,
we will just have to
take our collective breaths.
This will be with this
presidential campaign
likely throughout the Republican primary,
if not beyond.
Yeah, it's reshaped the state of the field
right now.
Eliot, Trump will be before this judge
that we should know
he's been trashing, claiming
that he hates him.
He's also obviously going
after the district attorney here.
We've seen that
there's a chance
the judge could dismiss this potential.
We don't actually know what the judge is
going to do. Yes.
Never a good idea
to talk negatively
about the judge or the prosecutor,
although you're entitled to do that.
You do have a First Amendment right.
But there's two lines
that we have to watch here.
Number one,
at a certain point,
the judge can issue a gag order,
meaning I officially order you to stop
speaking publicly about this case.
And if that happens and Trump
violates it,
then you can get into serious trouble.
The other thing that we have to watch for
is if it crosses a line where it gets
into that realm of threats,
then there could be a charge here
potentially.
I don't think we'll see one,
but it's possible at a certain point.
Threats to a prosecutor,
threats to a judge.
He come in legal.
Now, that's a matter of judgment
for the prosecutor.
But if it if it gets to a point
where it appears
that Trump is calling
for physical violence
or making a physical threat,
and that's a possibility.